Park City moguls skier Nick Page entered Saturday’s qualifying event needing a quality run just to stay alive in the competition. He more than delivered and ultimately capped off his experience in the Beijing Winter Olympics with a fifth-place finish.
“I don’t even know a word for it right now, but it was really special,” Page said in a U.S. Ski & Snowboard release. “To think about all the work that I’ve been doing since last March when the season ended – I mean the last four years it’s been on my mind – that 20-second window. I was going up the lift for that last run thinking, ‘Man, this is it, this is what I’ve worked for, for so long.'”
Page battled from sitting outside the top 20 after Thursday’s qualification run to fighting his way into the six-man final to compete for a medal. While his bid to bring home some hardware in Beijing came up short, the 19-year-old left everything on the course.
“I was actually really happy with [my third-round performance],” Page said via U.S. Ski & Snowboard. “Through the other rounds, I had a few little mistakes – whether it be a deep landing or a little step out in the middle. That last super-final round, I put together a run I was really happy with, where I executed the landings, skied well in the middle and was able to do everything I was trying to.”
After scoring highly in Saturday’s qualification round, Page finished 10th in the first finals round to move on further as the field was whittled down to 12 competitors. He barely held on to qualify for the six-man final, as his score of 76.92 was just enough to stave off elimination.
Page put together his best run in the medal round with a score of 78.9, but he had to settle for fifth. Sweden’s Walter Wallberg upset Canadian legend Mikael Kingsbury to win the gold, while Kingsbury finished second and Japan’s Ikuma Horishima took home the bronze medal.
Page represented Park City and the United States along with Cole McDonald and Bradley Wilson. Wilson’s final trip to the Olympics didn’t feature the ride off into the sunset that he was likely hoping for, as he didn’t finish Thursday’s qualifying round and failed to reach the finals in Saturday’s last-chance qualifying round for a 25th overall finish.
McDonald was the sole Park City skier to clinch a spot in Saturday’s finals action during Thursday’s qualifying round. However, he was unable to replicate that performance in the finals, as he came in 14th to miss the 12-man cutoff. Still, for an 18-year-old who is enjoying his rookie season on the World Cup tour, it’s difficult for McDonald to feel disappointed.
“That is pretty crazy to think all the way back when I was so excited just to be named to the developmental team and all the little steps it took to get here, and how many moments it really took to get from that spot all the way to where I am right now,” he said in a U.S. Ski & Snowboard release.